{"id":121255,"date":"2021-04-15T00:35:17","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T00:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=121255"},"modified":"2021-04-15T00:35:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T00:35:17","slug":"fact-check-fauci-says-its-too-early-to-know-results-of-eased-covid-19-restrictions-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/fact-check-fauci-says-its-too-early-to-know-results-of-eased-covid-19-restrictions-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact check: Fauci says it’s too early to know results of eased COVID-19 restrictions in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The claim:\u00a0Dr. Anthony\u00a0Fauci says he\u2019s \u2018not quite sure\u2019 why COVID-19\u00a0cases are dropping in Texas after restrictions were lifted<\/h2>\n

On March 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott\u00a0issued an executive order that would\u00a0officially\u00a0lift the requirement that Texans wear masks in public and authorize\u00a0all businesses to operate at full capacity on March 10. As reasoning, he pointed to\u00a0the decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations that occurred in February and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n

Health experts warned that because less than 30% of Texans had antibodies from a previous infection or vaccine, loosening restrictions could cause cases to increase again.\u00a0Dr. James McDeavitt, dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told CBS Austin on March 3 that Texas could see an increase in cases within two to six weeks.<\/p>\n

About\u00a0three weeks after the executive order went into effect, Mediaite posted an article about comments made by Dr. Anthony Fauci in an interview on MSNBC.<\/p>\n

The headline said “Fauci Says He\u2019s \u2018Not Quite Sure\u2019 Why Covid Cases Are Dropping in Texas After Mitigation Restrictions Were Lifted.”\u00a0Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian political action group, posted\u00a0a screenshot of the headline\u00a0on its Facebook page on April 7, garnering over 2,200 reactions. USA TODAY reached out to the poster for comment.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, seated at left, speaks to state Rep. Dustin Burrows\u2019 table in Montelongo\u2019s Mexican Restaurant in Lubbock, where Abbott announced he is rescinding a statewide mask mandate and capacity limits. (Photo: Justin Rex\/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)<\/span><\/p>\n

Some commenters asserted that masks, and mask mandates, are ineffective at preventing COVID-19.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Because lock downs and masks don\u2019t work!!!!! No proof,” one commenter wrote.<\/p>\n

“Maybe because by being exposed, PEOPLE ARE BUILDING THEIR NATURAL IMMUNITY. Science,”\u00a0another commenter wrote.<\/p>\n

One commenter even claimed that lifting the mandate actually decreased the risk of infection: “Surely it doesn’t have anything to do with people not constantly rebreathing the toxins their body is trying to expel,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

USA TODAY has previously reported the CDC has found mask mandates caused\u00a0COVID-19 cases to decline\u00a0and that masks and vaccines slow the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A view of the fans and the stands during the playing of the Canadian and U.S. national anthems before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Field. The Rangers opened their stadium for 100% attendance, the first such sporting event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. (Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)<\/span><\/p>\n

Fauci’s comment, in context<\/h2>\n

Mediaite’s April 6 article covered an interview featuring\u00a0Fauci on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0interview, Fauci said that he\u00a0“wasn’t sure” why COVID-19 cases were in decline in Texas because there could be multiple factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of things that\u00a0go into case numbers decreasing,” he said. “When you say that they\u2019ve had a\u00a0lot of the activity … outside, like ballgames, I\u2019m not\u00a0really quite sure.\u00a0It could be they\u2019re doing things\u00a0outdoors.\u00a0It\u2019s very difficult to one on\u00a0one compare that.\u00a0You just have to see in the long\u00a0range.\u00a0I hope they continue to tick\u00a0down.\u00a0If they do, that would be great.”<\/p>\n

The Facebook post could be construed\u00a0as implying a causal link between Texas’ lockdown ending and COVID-19 cases decreasing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0interview, Fauci said three weeks is too early to know the result of Abbott’s executive order.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, you know, it can be confusing. You\u00a0may see a lag and a delay,\u00a0because often, you have to wait\u00a0a few weeks before you see the\u00a0effect of what you\u2019re doing\u00a0right now,”\u00a0Fauci said.\u00a0“We\u2019ve been fooled before by\u00a0situations where people begin to\u00a0open back up, nothing happens,\u00a0and all of a sudden, several weeks later,\u00a0things (hospitalizations, case numbers, etc.)\u00a0start exploding on you. So\u00a0we\u2019ve got to be careful we don\u2019t prematurely judge that.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A group of people gather to burn masks along the JFK Memorial Causeway in honor of the end of the statewide mask mandate across Texas on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Photo: Courtney Sacco, Corpus Christi Caller-Times)<\/span><\/p>\n

Our rating: Missing context<\/h2>\n

We rate this claim MISSING CONTEXT, because without additional information it could be misleading. Fauci said he was unsure about why COVID-19 cases were decreasing in Texas despite the removal of state-mandated precautions, but he added that it is\u00a0too early to know the results of the executive order and because many factors can contribute to case numbers\u00a0outside of state policies on mask-wearing.<\/p>\n

Our fact-check sources:<\/h2>\n